Travel Diary

Well the tour really started the night before with the traditional 'howdy' meeting when most of the group showed up. We had dinner in the restaurant and a few Buds.

Day 1

Started at 7:00. In the lobby and we loaded the van. Started off on the right foot by chucking a left over 6 pack from CPW into the drinks esky (cooler). The weather was less than pleasant as we drove to Mt Rainier National Park. We were supposed to stay here a night but there was too much spring snow. We went for a hike up to Carter Falls just to get our legs into gear and blow out the cobwebs. The hike was extremely green and very moist. Posed for the first of our group photos at the waterfall. Had to cross some sus looking logs to get over the river. We had lunch and had the rules explained in this little picnic area. It was a good feeling to be seeing your breath at lunchtime. Then we filed back into the van and travelled up to Paradise. We got there and today it was no paradise. It was brass monkeys and you could only see 100 ft. There was snow everywhere, as it normally happens someone had to throw the first snow ball hmm....Gordon. We sat inside and several of us fell asleep in a movie presentation about the park. Maybe because it was dry and warm. Then we were on the road again. We stopped off to buy supplies. Of course we bought food and equally important, beer. Several people also bought some other surprise which was kept from me.
Arrived at the campground at Yakima (a little east of Mt Rainier) "ah grass". It even had music in the bathrooms. It was a beautiful campground with a little lake and ducks. We got our tents (Ben and I got our tent called "the swamp", all we needed was the still.), lessons on how to pitch them and set up for dinner. Dave cooked up a treat, Spaghetti and sauce. We had our first night talk which sort of outlaid our plans and basically to be prepared to expect anything. Then I was surprised, as it was my birthday they had somehow smuggled a cake aboard when we were at the supermarket. It even had Happy Birthday Neil on it. I was very happily surprised and grateful. Not quite your average birthday, being so far away from home, but I liked it. We started drinking and played "Bunny-oops" a name game around the fire. "I'm a dork, I'm a dork, I'm a big fat dork was heard many a time, but we all knew each others names come bedtime.

Day 2

Woke from a decent nights sleep to discover that I had landed the van loaders job, cool. Today we were faced with our first looong drive. Approx 450 miles, our destination Elkhorn Ranch, Rock creek (30 miles east of Masula). This took us through Washington state, Idaho and into Montana. The section from Spokane to Montana was very nice. To pass the time we played a card game called donkey, I am sure Kate knew how to cheat but did not tell anyone. We stopped to shop and buy more beer, as of course we had drunk most of it last night. We tried to stop in Spokane for lunch but after a lap of the town we found the park, but no tables and chairs, so we went elsewhere.
We got to the campground and our sites were deep in the woods, but our nearest neighbours were a long way away. Lucky that. So here is where we got to sample group A's cooking skills. The plan was chicken and rice, sound simple right : ) We started drinking planning to have a few before dinner. It ended up taking 2 lots of rice to get it and I had finished that bottle of wine that I bought in Canada before dinner was served. So everyone was suitably lubricated, proved by the fact that we were all dancing on the van. Dinner was eaten, the fire was started and we just continued on drinking. Somehow that bottle of J.D went down fast. The rest of the night is a bit fuzzy but there was something about Kangaroos and Koalas. I ended the night by dragging the old sleeping bag into the middle of the felid and remember falling asleep under the Montana stars.

Day 3

Woke up with Sara walking through my bedroom, on her way to the shower : ) Most of the group went horseriding. So the rest of us could have had a lie in, but instead we cleaned up and pulled down the tents. Not such a good idea bending over to put out tent pegs after a big night. We got in the van and headed for Gardinier (just outside Yellowstone). As usual we stopped to do some shopping and buy more booze, we never learn : ) We then stopped at Chico hot springs. Pretty ritzy looking springs. Every one else went swimming. I assumed the recovery position on a deck chair for a siesta. We were all mellow so we decided to eat at the hot springs, as it was group A's turn to cook and we did not want a repeat of the previous night. I perused the menu and I thought I would go the ribs with a tone of fries. Well I forgot I was in the US and the waiter almost needed a forklift to bring me my meal. It was huge. I just polished of the ribs, but the table could not even finish the fries and we had Ben sitting at the table. Definitely a case of eyes being bigger than the belly. Got to the campground late. Another campground with codes for the bathroom doors that you have to sit outside for 20 seconds while you try to remember it. You only ever forgot when you really needed to go. Only a quiet few beers this night.

Day 4

We left Camp at 8:00 and drove through the famous North Arch. I had finally made it to Jellystone. We drove to the visitors centre at Mammoth Springs. The Weather was beautiful, but a bit on the chilly side. We walked up the boardwalks of Mammoth hot springs. It was very impressive. Then we drove around the upper loop and saw some more cool stuff. We drove through the park, stopping at Undine falls and on to Mt Washburn. A small hike ensued as it was very windy and cold (group photo main page). But we had a great view for our troubles. Then we stopped at Canyon village for lunch. Then we went for a big hike. We saw some cool stuff like, boiling mudpots, a road runner (beep, beep) bubbling lakes, lots of interesting smells. Then we turned the corner and there it was The grand canyon of Yellowstone. A "Wow" was about all you could muster. We walked along the rim until we could see lower falls in the distance, impressive. We then landed in tourist central (The falls lookout). An oriental woman said "photo" to me as I was sitting on a bench. So I though she wanted me to take her photo. Not really she just wanted me to move my arse. We were spoiling her view, Gee. Ben was lucky enough to get roped into taking photos, with a very complex camera, well it looked that way.
Drove through Hayden Valley (got some very close up shots of some bison) to the mud Volcano. It was quite violent. Then we drove towards our campground, but stopped for some photos of dear and more bison. The campground name was very soothing "Grizzly Park". Just what you want to see when you rock up with tents. But it was an outstanding campground. Very neat with a laundry. Even had complementary coffee.

Day 5

I had midnight trek to the bathroom and realised half way there that it was really cold and I was heavily underdressed. It is times like this that hotels seem like a good idea. Awoke in the morning to the sounds of rain drops on the tent. This was bad as I had hung my towel out to dry overnight. At least it stopped raining for long enough to pack up camp. Had to load the van with cold wet hands and that was not much fun. The weather was cold and rainy all day long, and to make things that little more adventurous it was nice and windy, adding that good old chill factor. So we drove down to a place called Firehole canyon drive, a cool little canyon that had been created by flowing lava or something like that. Then off to one of the highlights of the trip Old Faithful. As we drew closer we stopped a few times to look at some of the other springs in the area. We stopped at the Grand Prismatic spring. It was very foggy and you could just make out the colours of the pools. Even in the shitty weather it was an incredible sight. Did I mention that it was COLD ?  We got there as Old Faithful was erupting and got some hurried photos, almost timed it perfectly. We then huddled into the visitors center to get warm and watch a film. We walked around the Geyser hill boardwalk. I never realised that there was so much to see and do at Old Faithful. Lots of geysers and springs around the walk. Some were very small to bigger ones that don't often erupt. So the old girl was due to go off at 11:30 plus or minus 10 minutes so they say. There we were standing around like a bunch of kids watching teletubbies. Trying to keep warm and dry. Then at 11:34 off she went. It lasts for a while. It is not just a 10 second show. Unfortunately it was hard to tell the geyser from the sky but the sound helped, along with all the oos and ahhhs. Went and had lunch in the warm cafeteria. Geysers were going off all over the place saw at least 3 others go off from a distance within the basin. I reckon that they were longer or higher than good old faithful, but I suppose it is blind luck to see them go off.
Down to Yellowstone lake we went. We arrived at West thumb and decided to brave the weather and walked around the boardwalk. More beautifully coloured pools and springs. Walked along the lake for a bit. It was still nice but the postcards make it look breathtaking. On the way to the south entrance, we stopped at a traffic jamb. Ooohhh a bear. It was sitting on the ground very still approx 60 meters away in the woods. As you can see I took the photo anyway. Not quite the Canadian bear photos but at least it was a bear. We then drove through the Teton N.P. Visibility was poor to say the least, but what you could see was impressive. We stopped at the visitors center and did some more shopping, as if my backpack was not full enough already. We made the call to go for some dry accommodation. So we headed for Jackson and found some cabins. Beds were very small so I pulled up a bit of floor. Had a few beers but the plan for an early night was a success.

Day 6

Loaded the van without pulling down the tents. The plan was to jet back up to Grand Teton National Park and to do some hiking. On the way back up we could at least see the mountains they call the grand tetons. We took a stop at the visitors center to give us the chance to buy some souvenirs. I bought some postcards and a poster (lets see if it makes it). We decided to do a hike up through cascade canyon. First this involved walking around Lake Jenny. It was very cold and the wind was blowing very hard. First we made a detour to a waterfall called hidden falls. Why they call it hidden fall is news to me because it was fairly large. We then hiked up to inspiration point. The view of both the mountains and the valley was very, well 'inspirational'. The chipmunks up there were extremely tame. Bordering on being pests. If you were not watching they would pinch the food out of your hand. We walked up into cascade canyon for about 20 minutes (following a cascading river). Then it was time to turn around, and head back for lunch at the van. The majority decided to sloth it and catch the boat back instead of walking back around the lake. We had to prepare lunch on a rock as there were no tables. It was though the rock was purposely built for that task.
Then we drove back to Jackson taking our last looks at the Grand Tetons, yes they were grand indeed. I would say the Grand Tetons would be in my top 3 list of the most scenic places I have seen on my travels. Arrived at the campground and we had to squeeze into a very small area and share with a lot of ducks. The polish hot dogs for dinner were something that has to be tried to be believed. There was also a small incident where 8 male ducks tried to mate with one poor female, at the one time !! distressing but eh it is spring time.
So onto the nights entertainment. We were going to the town meeting. That is what they call Tuesday nights, $ beers and $4 jugs (pitchers), everyone is there. Well we drunk a lot of beer and some more beer after that at the log cabin . Some of us showed off tattoos, was that Elvis ? some sang down the main street of Jackson and some just kept walking and missed the campground all together : )

Day 7

Woke up and I was well what can I say, very hungover. I eventually got up and dragged myself to the shower. I walked into Jackson and planted myself in front of a computer in an e-mail cafe. Very short e-mail. So the main plan for the day was to tame the Snake river, white water rafting.
We arrived at the rafting place and we were all decked out in the rafting gear, from the little booties to the sexy looking wetsuits. Well some of us really did look the part. We got in the bus which drove us down to the river. We all piled onto the raft. The water was extremely cold and I was not looking forward to the water reaching a certain part of the body. We paddled down the river a bit. Given the low down and instructions of how to ensure we made it to the other end. We tackled a few smaller rapids to get the hang of it. Then we got to the biggest rapid on the section of river we were rafting. It was called the lunchbox counter, why who knows. For a visual take a look at the rafting photos. It did not look too big until we got close to it. Then a lot of "holy shits" came across our faces. We got hammered. First we lost Adam and then Janne over board, Sara nearly drowned in the raft, we spun and hit the rocks. The guide broke one of his oars. We managed to get Janne back in the boat but Adam flew off down stream like a jet boat being antisocial.
When we finally got back to camp the rigours of the previous night and the days activities had caught up with me. I hit the sack like a sack of spuds and slept until the morning. All the others went to see a rodeo.

Day 8

Well waking up having no feeling of seediness was something different. We went shopping and stopped off at the photo shop to have a look at the rafting photos. It was a series of 5 and can be seen on the photos page. We watched the video and it looked very lame. The waves looked almost small when compared to sitting in the raft hurtling towards them with no way to turn back. Our destination toady was Nah-Soo-Pah springs some 250 miles away, just before the Idaho/Nevada border. Idaho is a less than exciting state to drive through. Lots of potato farms as we followed the snake river for some time. We finally made it and had instant reason to worry. The sign said intoxicated persons will be escorted off the property. Bummer dude, looked like most of us would be sleeping on the road. So we hit the springs. It had a decent sized swimming pool, a spa and a soaking pool that was shit hot. Only supposed to stay a max of 10 minutes in it. I suppose it might have cooked you. We had fun going down the slide and some of us practised our diving skills. It looked like Adam was in training for Sydney 2000. We had some dinner and a few brewskies, then went down to watch the sunset. We thought Janne was hunting rabbits or something as she was crawling around in the scrub (but after I was emailed the photo I can now understand why, great photo). It was cool and windy and I still had my wet swimmers on. There is no need to extend on my description.....well actually : ) After the sun went down I made a run for the pool to defrost and then we mellowed out in the soaking pool until we were loose as gooses or is that geese.

Day 9

Today we were really going to get aquainted with the inside of the van some more. Meaning that we had a 500 mile drive to a secret location. So we basically drove from one side of Nevada to the other. We did manage to break up the drive and stopped at a place called "Boomtown" for an afternoon snack. You guessed it boomtown is a nice big casino complex. I had a flutter and ended up donating $5 to the cause. Then Dave gave us a tour of his home town Truckie, old home and high school. We took a drive up to get a scenic view of Donner lake as well a small history lesson.
Then we drove towards our secret location. Every now and then we would stop and pick up a sign or some balloons. Then we pulled up to discover that we had arrived at Dave's house. It was a beautiful home, with a beautiful view over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Dave's folks were great and we were all overcome from the generosity and welcomeness. We chilled out and played Volleyball, badminton and table tennis. There was a Mexican feast that was prepared as well. A huge amount of food that was first class. There was plenty of beer for consumption as well. There was a party going off in the spa, the margaritas helped I'm sure. Tequila shots and dancing. Most were planning to sleep outdoors but it got way to cold, so we all crashed inside.

Day 10

Well the hospitality continued from last night. A huge beautiful breaky was cooked for us. We chilled some more and played a deadly version of table tennis. This was something that Emilie seemed to excel at. Then it was time to unwillingly leave. But before we said our goodbyes we had another surprise. There it was, a pinyata. So we lined up and put the blindfold on. We had a swing and the poor thing lost a couple of legs before we managed to put it out of its misery. Then the lollies were shared around.
We drove around Lake Tahoe, through the ritzy area, past Ponderoza ranch (where bonanza was filmed). We got to the campground at Xepther Cove. It was a very dusty campground. Pitched tents and walked down to the beach, not really a big beach. From what I could gather the water was cold but that did not seem to phase Janne. This beach seemed to put baywatch to shame. It was a cross between a nightclub and a beach, waitresses serving cocktails and it had a "pick up joint" feeling all over it. One interesting moment was when one of the women that was sitting 6 foot in front of me in a G-string decided to lay down on the banana lounge in a very revealing position. I will leave your imagination to the rest. I will always remember Bens face and Adam & Gordon's neck must have been sore for hours : ) We then readied ourself for the nightly activities. We had a sunset sail cruise organised, wine and champagne were supplied and we took advantage of that. We basically sailed from one side of the lake to the other and watched the sunset. No-one fell over board.
We then got dropped off at the Nv/Ca state line, which coincidently was where the Casinos started . We hit the Harrah, Bills and Ceasors. Sara was a good gambling companion. Every time that she would make a mistake and gamble more than usual it would come up a winner. So we played the machines for 3 or so hours, drank our complimentary drinks all for the price of a cab fare. Fun night all around.

Day 11

Today we were off to one of my reasons for coming back, to see the great waterfalls of Yosemite National Park. Both times I have been there before there was no water. The most beautiful place I have seen in my travels. So we cruised up and down mountains. We stopped at this little place in the middle of nowhere to do some shopping. Then we drove past Mono lake and turned the corner. We stopped at a little service station that had a trapeze for hire. Not one of us has the guts to try it out. Then back in the van and we drove up Tioga Pass (Elev 10000ft) and into Yosemite. There was a fair bit more snow than when I was here last time, but a lot less colour. We decided to stop at the beautiful Lake Tenaya for lunch. As usual the picture does not do any justice to the scenery. Then we drove down towards the valley, past Tolueme meadows and down to Tolueme Grove. We walked down the mile track to see the tall sequoia trees and walked through the holy tree. Then as we were walking back up, the slower hikers of the group (which I was normally a member) heard a disturbance in the woods. The first thing that goes through your mind is BEAR, but it was a cute little Bambi looking deer. So by the time we got back to the top we decided to move on. We drove through a few tunnels on our way (always remembering to put our hands on the roof, as this brought us good weather). As it was getting late the call was made to go and see Bridalvail falls. We pulled up and could see the falls from the carpark. It was a short walk to the veiwpoint. The falls were absolutely breathtaking, the water seemed to dance with the wind side from side. Then we hooked it to our campground. Well it was an interesting campground, one mens shower, one womens and two unisex. So 3 showers available for 3 to 4 trek groups worth of people. So after dinner we went over to another group doing the Westerner 2. Well we drunk and some of us got drunk. We even tipped over their table. Including someone who ensured us that we had a full moon from the top of the van. We had to make sure that we did not touch the trees either.

Day 12

Woke up with very little sleep and had to wait for a shower, surprise, surprise. This caused me to miss breakfast. Not the best career decision when planning a good day of hiking. We got to the visitors center and the forecast was hot and sunny 32 degrees. We decided to do the Upper falls walk. We caught the shuttle bus to the lower falls stop, got off and walked to look at the lower falls. 'WoW' it was very impressive. So I stopped to take the photos and most of the others we were with just kept on walking, in a direction back towards the visitors center. So Sara and I turned around and walked off to the trailhead in the right direction. It took us a bit of time but we finally found it. So we read the sign at the bottom, not always a good idea. Total change in elevation in 820 meters to the top of the falls, and there is something like 60 switchbacks. So we started walking up and it was not wrong zig after zag, straight up and it was dam hot. We stopped at Columbia rock to catch our breath and to take in the view of the valley. It was spectacular, we had only walked about one mile, but it sure as hell felt like 5. We walked another half a mile in a more moderate gradient until we got to the spot near the bottom of the upper falls. Sat there and looked in wonder, took some photos and then started back down. In the end I think I got up about 400/450 meters, but some people did get to the top. I only fell over once. That smooth granite is slippery stuff.
Got back to the kiosk and consumed sustenance. Then somehow managed to get motivation and energy to get off the chair and head for mirror lake. After getting off the bus we walked the mile up to mirror lake. At least this time it had water in it. It was a little windy, but it still looked a treat. Then it was time to go shopping, went mad in the village store, posters , clean shirt for the morning, calendars. We ate pizza at the pizza joint, or could be inhaled the pizza. Got back to the campsite and several people went to the bar. Almost 6 weeks of being on the go (or old age) was starting to take its toll so I had an early night after having a shower (to save waiting in the morning).

Day 13

Got up and loaded the van in extreme heat, lucky we had no hiking today. Today we were heading to the coast, off to Monterey. We could tell we were getting close to the coast as the weather was coming in. We drove straight to our campsite via a small visit to the beach at the end of the road. We walked down to the beach. It was windy but cool, ahh the Pacific a fairly cool Pacific, 6 months worth of swimming and a half hour walk would see me at home.
We then went to the campground and unloaded the van. Gordon and I decided to take revenge from the morning when we were pummelled with sleeping bags. Well most people were paying attention, except Kate. A bag was thrown at Kates head then kaboom, bullseye, Kate's head violently bounced to one side. We nearly fell off the van laughing. A nice drive took us down to the Monterey peninsula. The fog had lifted just enough to get some good piccys off. We then spent some time in Monterey. Looked around the shops real quick. Some of us were hungry so off to this diner for some clam chowder we went. Yummmy. Into the Pebble Beach golf shop I ventured, Ouch ! don't look at those price tags and covert to Aussie $. Then we made our final booze stop, one bottle of Gentleman Jack thank you very much : ) Back to the campground and I finally did some washing, first time since Seattle. 13 days poohey. After a beautifully cooked dinner, Veggy sausages and pasta, which unfortunately I had little room for due to the clam chowder we filled up a wheel barrow with wood and took it to the beach. after packing the J.D and some coke of course. Let me tell you it was fun pushing a wheelbarrow though what seemed to be a mile of sand. Got a good fire going (love that lighter fluid) and drank allot of grog. Eventually got back to the camp around 4:00 am after a very good night.

Day 14

Felt good after not much sleep. Lucky as we had to clean all the camping gear so that took some time. We piled into the van and headed up highway 101 to our final destination. The city by the bay, good old San Francisco, my favourite US city. On the way up we stopped at a scenic spot called Greyhound Rock and to use the ugliest facilities I have seen. We then made our final shopping stop at Albertsons to buy a card and some lunch. As we travelled along the highway we could not resist the temptation any more and as Kate quietly slept, out came out the cameras. Click, click, click. We played some inspirational music as we hit the limits of San Fran. On arrival to Presidio (we were going to walk across the bridge) we found that we could not see the bridge due to the fog. It was cold and windy. So we walked across the bridge, almost fearing that we could fall off at any time. Could not see the top of the bridge, Alcatraz or the city. There was a little less fog on the Sausitio side. Now it was time to get to the hotel and our last trip in the van. We had heaps of fun driving through the City, NOT. It was a nice hotel and would do the job.
We said our farewells to Jana as she was going home. For dinner we were going to a Mongolian BBQ/ Karioke joint. In the end 2 other treks arrived as well, but we showed them how to party. They all peaked way too early. The Sake bombs started and Kate and Vics 3 in a row were impressive. So I had a go and managed 5 straight. 10 in all if I remember correctly. Kate and Vic were well on there way. It was an excellent way to end a great trek. It was a shame that Jana was not there to join in the groups rendition of "sitting of the dock of the bay". Even the most ardent of us saying "I wont be singing" got up and partied hard, as if there was any other way with our group.

Day 15 to Home

Got up ready to face another day and meet in the foyer at 10. We walked up to a little diner and ate breakfast. Came back and decided that I would go and look for tonight's hotel. So off I went down towards union square. Eventually I found it, 100 meters away from the cable car turnaround on Powell St, location, location, location. I went in and asked what check in time was. The lady said hang on I will check if your room is ready. It was, cool. So she handed the key. Back to the other hotel to said bye to Dave, no rest for the wicked and picked up my bag, OK who put the house bricks in it. Needless to say it was very heavy and I had a walk of about 800 meters to carry it. The bag weighed the same as a car by the time I got to the hotel. The plan was to meet the remaining people at fisherman's wharf. I bought my Muni pass and looked at the cable car line, DOH !! It was huge so I pulled a swiftie and walked up 2 blocks to the next stop. That is my friendly travel hint for the day. They only allow 20 on at a time at the turnaround. I jumped on the outside of the next car. Yehaaaw.
We did the touristy thing down at Pier 39, looked around the shops, took photos. You could just see the bridge and goodness me there were no Seal lions. At least it did not smell. Adam, Sara and I had some Baudin clam chowder in a roll (love that chowder). The decision was made that that hill is not too big, so up we went all the way to Lombard street. Then we walked down the crooked street and took more photos. Come dinner time we needed some tucker and we finally decided on the American icon Dennys. Caught the cable car back up to the hotel. Janne had her own cable car as she was going to Chinatown, what service : )

Day 16

Today I was to meet the group at high noon at the information center. But before this I went window shopping. Cruised around for sports stores but did not find too much. My search for rollerblades would have to continue elsewhere. Well we all made it for 12 so we decided to have some brunch. After a healthy burger king start we said farewell to Yolanda and headed off to fisherman's wharf. The cable car line was same as yesterday, so up a block we went. The others got on one car and left Gordon and myself standing on the curb. We caught the next one, on outside again (real adventure freak eh). We took the low road. As we were walking towards the wharf the outdoors store just sucked us in through the doors, it was cool. Could have given the card a workout. We meet up with the rest at the wharf, not before Gordon took a photo of a dude holding a "need cash for weed" sign. All bar Vic signed up for a bay cruise. It was still a little bit foggy, but the best day so far. So we enjoyed the informative but very windy one hour tour of the bay. Then we caught the bus up to Coit Tower (too steep to walk). Went up the tower and took some more photos. We then walked down Filmore Steps. Second handy travel hint, don't walk up them very steep. We walked up a big hill then back down a big hill ( I love San Francisco). Found ourselves walking along Columbous Ave towards the Pyramid, through the Italian section of town. We saw a nice little Italian restaurant opposite "The Stinking Rose - A Garlic restaurant" The food was first class, Vic even pinched a mussle (oops was not supposed to tell). Then we ambled through Chinatown and made our way back to Union square where we tried to say our goodbyes, but the cable car left without Adam, Ben, Gordon, Kate and Vic. Better luck with the next one. The Phil and I went back to the hotel room and easily crashed.

Day 17

Woke up half an hour late, but we still found Ben sitting in the lobby. Had yet another serve on Burger King for Breakfast. Six weeks and did not touch Maccas once. I was proud. So I did some last minute shopping, including a new bag. I had bought too much stuff. Finally stuffed everything in my bags (to applause), arranged a shuttle and checked out. We walked to Phil and Bens new hotel, through some dodgy areas, then up to Polk street for shopping. You really have to love the cultural diversity of San Francisco. Stopped at Lomardi sports store and drooled over some blades. In the end the lack of luggage space made the decision for me. Then we walked up to Lafeyette park, down through Japan town (had burger king again). Made our way to Alamo square ( the Full House houses) which was well worth the walk. Continued up to Haight/Ashbury to check out Ameba CD exchange. I could have gone crazy, I restrained myself and only bought 7 CDs. We then went to sit down in Golden Gate park and chilled. Caught the bus back to the hotel and ate at Loris Diner. Got bags and headed for the airport. Took only 20 minutes. Checked in and changed shirts and then the real adventure began.

Day 18......

Well to cut a long story short, due to take of at 23:30 the plane broke down and could not take off as the flight crew had to be stood down. They rescheduled the flight for 15:00 the next day so slept in the airport. Then we had to take off by 16:00 to beat the curfew in Sydney (still not boarded at 15:30, plane on the tarmac). So we had to make for Melbourne (at least in the right continent). Landed at 02:30 then had to wait around and caught the first flight back up to Sydney a total of 24.5 hours late. But on the bright side I received a US$1000 flight voucher so I started planning the next one : )